Sodium bulbs

[Fosterini]

Hi Guys

I've recently been given a sodium lamp by a friend (was going to use CFLs) and am just looking at bulbs and was wondering; is it better to buy to different bulbs for veg/budding as there are also dual spectrum ones available?

I am using a tent btw, if this makes any difference....

any help greatly appreciated.

 

[bunnyface]

Personally at the moe im using sunmaster dual-spectrum. It isnt really dual spectrum, just throws out some blue as well as red/orange, soo you dont get too much yellowing toward the end of flower, like you would from a true hps. Like son t.
I started with a son t and got great results. Now im using the dual in flower, just for flwer and it works just aswell. Maybe they dont stretch as much as just a son t in flower with that extra blue.
This is also dependant on you having a ballest that can run mh and hps, other wise just get the dual spectrum for hps i guess.

Take it easy.

 

[bunnyface]

Also, forgot to say, you can use the dual for veg and flower, but it isnt a very good veg light. You would be better with the mh for veg, and hps for flower. Or actually , the best would be one of each for true dual spectrum.

Take it easy.

 

[Fosterini]

cheers bro, ok i think im gonna go with two different bulbs for veg/flowering.
one other thing, could you let me know what the best humidity range is. Im growing NL.
thanks

 

[bunnyface]

Yeah. The two bulbs should give you the fast growth your looking for. Also means your veg bulb will last longer with less use.

well as far as im aware it isnt too much strain dependant, but dose help in different growth stages.

Seedling and clones, 80-90%, i never go above 70% for this young incase of fungi etc.
vegetative 60-70% , once again im around 50-60%
flower 40-60%, and im at 45-50% day, and 65-70% at night which is alittle high and you need to watch for bud rot.

The higher the relative humidity the less your plants can transpire, the lower it is the more they can,, to a point, then they close their stomata to conserve moisture.
Hope that helps.

Take ot easy.

 

[Rusty Trikes]

THREE WORDS : Ceramic Metal Halide. Theses bulbs produce just as much blue as a MH and just as much red orange as a HPS, plus they produce WAY more UVA and UVB. They can be used throughout the entire life cycle of the plant. They cost about half as much as the "enhanced spectrum" bulbs , last twice as long and do not have any spectrum shift. The GE models run on Magnetic HPS ballasts only , but Phillips has magnetic MH and HPS retro-fit bulbs. Advanced lighting tech sells both. Someone is going to say that CMH is just a bunch of hoo-hah, but let me assure you, my friend, that these things WORK! I bought one and used it for one grow cycle, the results were so amazing that I bought CMH bulbs for ALL my lamps. Oh , and did I mention that they throw ALOT less heat at the plants? I supplement with CFL's in the corners, just to ensure an even light spread. GOOD LUCK!

 

[brotes grandes]

I started my first grow off using cfls for seedling til 2nd or 3rd set of leaves were grown then into hps for rest of veg n flower,kept it close got no stretch at all and was happy with end product. My next grow I decided to see for myself if there is any difference at all using a mh over hps for veg so I got one and now will never go back to hps for veg. It is perfectly fine to use hps thru your whole grow without any dramas I just see that bit better growth and bushiness using mh.

 

[Fosterini]

Thanks everyone - great advice!

 

[mrblu]

did he give you the ballast for it too?

 

[bunnyface]

THREE WORDS : Ceramic Metal Halide. Theses bulbs produce just as much blue as a MH and just as much red orange as a HPS, plus they produce WAY more UVA and UVB. They can be used throughout the entire life cycle of the plant. They cost about half as much as the "enhanced spectrum" bulbs , last twice as long and do not have any spectrum shift. The GE models run on Magnetic HPS ballasts only , but Phillips has magnetic MH and HPS retro-fit bulbs. Advanced lighting tech sells both. Someone is going to say that CMH is just a bunch of hoo-hah, but let me assure you, my friend, that these things WORK! I bought one and used it for one grow cycle, the results were so amazing that I bought CMH bulbs for ALL my lamps. Oh , and did I mention that they throw ALOT less heat at the plants? I supplement with CFL's in the corners, just to ensure an even light spread. GOOD LUCK!

Hey,

i had heard of these bulbs but havent seen them in my local hydro stores, maybe as one of them doesn't stock magnetic ballest anymore.....?ha.
i still have my old 400w and a barley used 600w mag ballest sitting there.
Are we talking significantly less heat? And how much longer is the life or effective life? Really twice as long? I could go to the website i guess but it will probably be a lot of propaganda.


Take it easy...

edit. Forgot to say, i take it they cant take the soft start feature in some mag ballest too. . Sorry for all the ques,,im goin to the website now...advanced light tech...cheers

 

[Fosterini]

yes mrblu, he gave me the ballast

 

[bigsteve]

The usual practice is to use a MH bulb to veg and a HPS bulb to flower. After following that routine for years I changed so that now I run a 400W HPS in my veg room and a 1000W HPS set-up in the flower room. Reason I 86'd the MH for vegging is that MH bulbs run much hotter that HPS bulbs. My veg "room" is 3 x 5 feet in a closet and being closed in I found it too hot with the MH bulb. So if heat and/or cooling are an issue you might want to lean towards the HPS bulbs. Good luck, BigSteve.